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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27902857">Authority</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paganpunk2/pseuds/Paganpunk2'>Paganpunk2</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Father Brown (2013)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Authority Figures, Homoeroticism, Homosexuality, Kink Discovery, M/M, Male Homosexuality, New Relationship, Period-Typical Homophobia, Pre-Relationship, bisexuality discovery</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:55:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,023</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27902857</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paganpunk2/pseuds/Paganpunk2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sullivan has Sid's kink all figured out.  Now the question is what to do with that knowledge...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sid Carter/Inspector Sullivan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Early Days</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Authority</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Inspector...”  Sergeant Goodfellow paused in the doorway of Sullivan’s office and frowned.  “Sir?  Is everything all right?” </p><p>Sullivan gave the completely cleared-off top of his desk a final swipe with a rag.  “Of course.  I’m just doing a little spring cleaning.” </p><p>“...But it’s Jul-”  The Sergeant broke off with a little shake of his head.  “Never mind, sir.  Whatever makes you happy.  I just came in to say that Sid Carter’s here.  He said you wanted to see him?” </p><p>“I wanted to see him five minutes ago.”  Carter showed up on time for everyone else, Sullivan knew.  Today's tardiness, like so many of the other things he’d done during the months since Sullivan’s arrival in Kembleford, had been purposeful.  “But show him in anyway.” </p><p>As soon as the door had closed, Sullivan whipped out a handkerchief and dabbed at the back of his neck.  He needed to be as put-together and commanding as possible for this encounter, which was why he hadn’t stopped to take his suit jacket off when it had occurred to him a quarter-hour earlier that a clean desk might shortly be of use.  He wouldn’t normally have worked up a sweat just by wiping down a flat surface, but as the Sergeant had pointed out, it was July.  That, and he was nervous as all hell. </p><p>A knock sounded.  Sullivan raised one hand to his hair and checked his tie for straightness.  Good.  Now, shoulders back.  Deep breath.  Set expression.  “Come in.” </p><p>“Mr. Carter, sir,” said Goodfellow. </p><p>And then there he was, sidling into the office, not looking over his shoulder as the Sergeant shut the door once more.  He’d chosen his mossy green shirt today, the collarless thing that he always rolled the sleeves up on and left unbuttoned halfway down his chest.  Sullivan had made more than one comment in the past about how disreputable it looked.  Once again, Sid was being intentionally irksome; Sullivan’s request for a meeting had been made yesterday, after all, so he could easily have worn anything else in his wardrobe. </p><p>But it wouldn’t do to get lost in his newfound certainty about the motive behind Sid’s constant affronts.  Sullivan had had the last two days to dwell upon and relish his realization, and now it was time for action.  “Sit down, Carter,” he instructed in a flat voice as the Sergeant’s footsteps receded outside. </p><p>“Afternoon to you, too, Inspector,” Sid drawled, taking the single chair that Sullivan had left on the visitor’s side of the desk.  He slid his hips down a little in the seat, lifted his left ankle to rest atop his right knee, and knit his fingers together behind his head.  “You wanted a chat?” </p><p>It should not have been physically possible for a person to look so comfortable in a hard, straight-backed chair.  Not just comfortable, in fact, but provocative.  Sid’s slight backward lean and the way he’d tilted his face upward to gaze dispassionately at his host seemed calculated to accentuate his neck, which Sullivan had spent far too many waking hours imagining the feel of beneath his tongue.   </p><p>“Yes,” said Sullivan, tearing his eyes away.  “I did.”  He suddenly wished he’d left the usual clutter in place atop his desk.  Then he would have had something to do with his hands, papers to shuffle, files to close, while he stood behind it.   </p><p>“...Could we hurry up about it, maybe?” Sid pressed when a short silence had unfurled.  “Sitting around your office in an awkward silence isn’t exactly what I had planned for my afternoon off.” </p><p>Sullivan grimaced.  “I asked you here,” he stated as evenly as he could with Sid’s gaze fixing him like a bug, “to give you a warning.” </p><p>“A warning?”  Sid chuckled, which made his throat do magnificent things.  “You’re not just gonna chuck me in a cell this time?  You must be getting soft, Inspector.” </p><p>There was a very real danger that the opposite was going to happen, actually.  Sullivan knew that he needed to move if he was going to retain control, not just of the situation but of himself.  “I thought it only fair to warn you,” he went on as he left the desk and circled behind Sid’s chair, “that I’ve figured you out.”  His words were punctuated by a low click as he locked the door. </p><p>“...Have you now?”  </p><p>He had the audacity to sound amused.  “Yes,” Sullivan verified, beginning a fresh circuit of the room.  “I have.  I now know <em>exactly</em> how you operate.  And I intend to take full advantage of that knowledge.” </p><p>“Showing your hand a bit, don’t you think?” </p><p>“I believe in fair play as a general rule.” </p><p>Sid tipped his head fully back as Sullivan moved behind him for a second time.  He’d put on that smirk that made the Inspector want to eat him alive.  From this angle, too, it was possible – no, unavoidable, really – for Sullivan to glance down and take in an eyeful of the flesh beneath his undershirt.  Damn it, it was like the man could read his mind.  “What,” Sid asked silkily, “even with me?” </p><p>Sullivan paused and leaned in, just a little, just enough to highlight the fact that he was in the power position.  Clean sweat and the woodsy aroma of Sid’s cologne – was it actually scent, Sullivan wondered, or did he just smell like that on his own? – filled his sinuses.  “Would you rather I <em>didn’t</em> play fair with you, Carter?” </p><p>Teeth flashed in a grin.  “I guess that depends on the situation, doesn’t it?” </p><p>“Hmm.” </p><p>Neither spoke again until Sullivan was passing behind the desk for the third time.  “So,” Sid ventured, crossing his arms loosely.  “What exactly have you ‘figured out’ about me, Inspector?” </p><p>Now it was Sullivan’s turn to bare his teeth.  Such an animalistic sneer was unfamiliar to his lips, but he rather liked it.  This must be how a hunting dog felt, he thought, when it had cornered its fox and was about to have its way with it.  “I’ve figured out that you have an authority kink.” </p><p>Sid’s eyes narrowed.  “Are you sure you know what that word means?” </p><p>“...Kink?” </p><p>“Authority.” </p><p>Ooh, so he wanted to play that way, did he?  Sullivan stopped, bent forward over his desk, and rested his weight on his balled fists.  “Insults aren’t going to get you anywhere,” he growled. </p><p>“They’ve gotten me this far, haven’t they?”  Sid unfolded himself and leaned in towards Sullivan.  “Anyway, they’re not illegal yet.” </p><p>“Why,” Sullivan whispered hotly, “do you feel a constant need to see how far you can push boundaries?” </p><p>A fresh grin appeared.  “Guess I’m just a naturally curious sort of person.” </p><p>“And what exactly are you curious about, Carter?”  They were close enough that either of them could have reached out and dragged the other into a kiss.  Sullivan’s fingers twitched, but he held his nerve.  His position would be ten times stronger in the long run if Sid was the one who broke. </p><p>“Well, right now I’m curious as to why you think I have an authority kink.  Which, by the way, is not a word I ever figured I’d hear come out of your mouth.” </p><p>“What,” Sullivan rolled his eyes, “authority?” </p><p>“Nah.  Kink.” </p><p>He should have seen that coming.  Sullivan lowered his head and closed his eyes for a moment.  When he looked up again, Sid’s eyebrows rose expectantly.  Brat.  Spanking was too good for him.  “You spend the bulk of your free time with a priest, a peeress, and the most domineering woman this side of the Irish Sea.  Your choice of compatriots suggests a deep-seated desire for submission.  Need I say more?” </p><p>“...You’ve got a point, there, Inspector,” Sid said with real appreciation.  “I’d never thought of it that way before.  But it’s pretty circumstantial, don’t you think?”  The tip of his tongue appeared at the corner of his mouth – so close, so bloody <em>close</em> - and flicked deftly over his lips.  “You’re gonna need to provide some more concrete evidence if you want to make a case out of it.” </p><p>Sullivan was gone.  Forget waiting; he could make taking what he wanted work for him, too.  It wasn’t the way he’d ever done things before, but then Sid wasn’t like any of the men he’d ever done this with, either.  And he <em>did</em> like to be in charge, even if he’d never really been able to exercise that facet of his personality in the bedroom. </p><p>His right hand shot forward and wrapped itself around the back of Sid’s neck.  He yanked him in, his fingers carding into and then pulling on his hair as their lips met.  The shock of their collision was enough to daze Sullivan for the space of a heartbeat – he might have made his need a bit too obvious there, but the thing was done – but he quickly regained himself and invaded the space where all of Sid’s teasing, testing comments were born. </p><p>He stopped just short of suffocation, and let Sid go.  “How’s that for evidence, Carter?” he panted.  “You enjoyed that.  Admit it.” </p><p>Sid had dropped back into his seat.  His hands were loose and open in his lap, and he was blinking at Sullivan with wide eyes.  “Uh...Inspector?”   </p><p>“What?” </p><p>“I think I was wrong earlier.” </p><p>“...What?”  A flame of worry licked to life in Sullivan’s stomach.  He couldn’t have miscalculated this.  He just couldn’t have.  The glances, the jibes, the glint in Sid’s gaze on the rare occasions when their hands brushed...it all made perfect sense.  It had all added up. </p><p>“It might actually be kink that you don’t know the meaning of.” </p><p>“What?!”  Now that he thought about it, though, had there been any reaction from Sid while Sullivan had been kissing him?  He’d been so lost in the moment that he hadn’t registered whether or not reciprocation had occurred.  Surely if there had been any positive response they’d be plastered over the specially-cleared desk right now instead of staring at each other from several feet apart.  Had...had he done his math wrong, after all? </p><p>“You listed the Father, and Lady F., and Mrs. M as your evidence of my having an authority kink.”  Sid still looked dazed, but he managed a half-shrug.  “But like I said, it’s all circumstantial.  I mean, they’re definitely authority figures, but it’s not like that – sexual – between me and any of them.  Never has been.  So...” </p><p>So he <em>had</em> miscalculated.  Disastrously.  Sullivan felt all of the blood drain from his face.  He groped behind him for the chair he’d pushed out of the way while he was cleaning, then fell into it.  Propping his elbows on the desk, he lowered his face into his hands.  “Oh, my God,” he breathed hoarsely.   </p><p>This could be the end of everything.  If Sid wanted to make something out of it, he could.  A kiss, even a sultry one, might not get Sullivan thrown in jail, but it could lose him his job, and it would absolutely destroy him socially.  Even a rumor of homosexual leanings would follow him for the rest of his life.  And what had he ever done for Sidney Carter to make him likely to keep quiet?  “Carter...this...I...please, don’t...” </p><p>A warm weight settled in next to Sullivan’s arm.  “...Alright.  I need two things from you now, Inspector,” Sid said. </p><p>There was no way that this would be easy.  Sid knew the score as well as Sullivan did; he would drive a hard bargain.  “Anything,” Sullivan moaned.  “Anything that it’s within my purview to do, Carter.  I swear.” </p><p>“First thing is, stop calling me Carter.” </p><p>“...What?”  Jesus, if the first thing was that easy, the second was probably going to be a quadruple homicide. </p><p>“In the street’s still alright.  People are used to it out there.  You should probably keep that up.  But otherwise, it’s Sid.” </p><p>“I...”  Sullivan pressed his fingertips against his eyelids.  “If that’s what you want.  Sid.”   </p><p>“Good.  Second thing is...” </p><p>No, no, here it came, and please, <em>please</em> let it be something he could actually do... </p><p>“...Forgive me.” </p><p>Sullivan’s eyes popped open.  He lifted his head slowly and turned towards Sid, who had not just leaned nearby but full-on sat on the desk beside him.  “F-forgive you?” </p><p>“Yeah.”  Sid’s face was pinched with regret.  “I didn’t mean to scare the hell out of you like that.  I honestly didn’t.  You just reacted before I got a chance to finish.”   </p><p>“I...you...you <em>didn’t</em>...what?” </p><p>Sid ran one finger along the edge of Sullivan’s jaw, gently lifting it back into place.  “What I was fixing to say when you about died,” he murmured, “was that while I apparently <em>do</em> like hanging about with authority figures, it’s never been an actual kink for me before.” </p><p>Before?  Surely he didn’t mean...but maybe...and the hand, the hand that was now cupping his cheek...  “Before what?”  </p><p>A thumb, all smooth callus and firmness, ghosted across Sullivan’s lips.  “Before I laid eyes on you.” </p><p>Lust, rage, and relief flooded his veins simultaneously.  He darted forward and bit down on the thumb that was still fondling his mouth.  “Do you realize,” he hissed a moment later when Sid withdrew the appendage with a mild – and, Sullivan noted with interest, mildly aroused – oath of pain, “that I thought my life was <em>over</em>?” </p><p>“I’m sorry!  But you didn’t let me finish.  Anyway, it would have been <em>my</em> life that was over if it’d turned out you were just fishing, wouldn’t it?” </p><p>“That would have been entrapment, Car-...Sid.” </p><p>“Oh.”  Sid frowned.  “Well, what was I supposed to think you might be doing?  I come to the station at your request, and the desk’s all cleared off.  Your desk is <em>never</em> clear, and I’d say I’ve been in here enough to know.  Then you’re locking the door behind me, and giving me looks that would make lava think it was getting a bit warm in here, and saying you’ve figured out my kink.  Then you bloody-” he dropped the volume of his voice, “-<em>kiss</em> me with no warning, right after we talked about making out a case.  Can you blame me for being surprised, and suspicious, too?” </p><p>“<em>Were</em> you suspicious, though?  You were flirting back just as hard!” </p><p>“I don’t know!  I was...nervous, I guess.  And aggravated that you might be trying to trap me, that I might have let something slip I shouldn’t have.  And excited, cause I <em>did</em> want it.”  His hand wandered back towards Sullivan’s face again, its brave thumb coming to rest within snapping distance of his teeth.  “I <em>do</em> want it.  You.  And that makes me even more nervous, because I’ve never actually wanted another bloke before.  I don’t mind – it doesn’t bother me like it does some – but it’s still new.” </p><p>Sullivan didn’t think he’d ever heard anything quite so beautiful as that last tidbit of information in all his life.  “So you’ve never...?” </p><p>“No.  Never.  Why, have you?” </p><p>He nearly cackled with triumphant delight.  “Oh, yes.” </p><p>Sid grinned.  “Authority <em>and</em> experience.  My kink keeps getting more and more specific.” </p><p>“I’m not certain it counts as a kink if it’s so specific that only one person can fulfill it.” </p><p>“Guess you’ll have to keep me around town for a while, then, and not ship me off anywhere dark and scary, if we’re gonna find out whether you’re that one person.” </p><p>“The only place I have any intention of shipping you off to is the police cottage.” </p><p>“...What, you mean now?” </p><p>It was closing in on three-thirty.  Sullivan usually left the station at around five, if there was nothing major going on, and he hadn’t taken an early day in a couple of months.  He stood up, crossed to the filing cabinet on which he’d set his keys that morning, and freed one from the ring.  “Take this,” he said, pressing it into Sid’s palm.  “Go ahead, and give me an hour.  If anyone asks, I hired you to fix a leak in the bathroom.  That can be what this meeting was about, too.  Plumbing.” </p><p>The appreciative glint from earlier was back in Sid’s eyes.  “You’re pretty good with the fake alibis, Inspector.” </p><p>“You collect quite the catalog when you hear them all the time.” </p><p>“Heh.  I’ll bet.”  Sid considered Sullivan for a long moment, then cast his gaze down at the desk.  “Seems a shame to waste your hard work here, though.” </p><p>“Trust me, you want a bed the first time.”  Every time, in Sullivan’s opinion, but he had a feeling that Sid would be trying to tempt him into more exotic locations before long.  “We couldn’t go that far here, anyway.” </p><p>“No.  But don’t you want something to hold you over for the next hour?  You know...”  Sid’s lips pulled back and put his teeth on display as they tapped together twice in quick succession.  “...A little afternoon snack?” </p><p>Sullivan had him flat on the desk almost before he’d finished speaking.  “You’re going to need to learn to watch your mouth around me, Carter,” he rumbled, nipping at his collarbone.  God, that rough, outdoorsy smell really did seem to come right out of his pores of its own accord.  “I’ve been told that I can take things too literally at times.” </p><p>A suppressed groan shivered its way through the vulnerable throat Sullivan had been coveting for weeks.  “...Changed my mind,” Sid sighed.  “You can call me Carter in the street <em>and</em> when we’re alone.  Like this.”   </p><p>“I think I’ll call you whatever the hell I want when we’re like this.”  Sullivan took Sid’s head in both of his hands and held him down, then hovered over him, face-to-face.  “Now, we’re going to try that kiss again, and this time you’re going to cooperate.” </p><p>“’N then?” </p><p>“And then snack time will be over.” </p><p>“What if I’m still hungry?” </p><p>There was no doubt in Sullivan’s mind that they were both going to be very hungry for quite a while to come.  “You’ll just have to wait until dinner.”  Then he brought their lips together in a second clash.  This time, there was no missing Sid’s extremely positive response.</p>
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